team

our mission

To be the universe's best service for independent designers to EVALUATE, IMPROVE AND SELL their products.

our story

While selling our own products to stores, from our art collective The Whiteout, we found some products did great while some never got reordered. The buyers never told us why. They were either too busy or we didn't feel it was their place to give advice. And we felt too awkward to ask. Our goods had entered the product void.

A nudge towards retail readiness could have quadrupled everyone's business. We designed wholesale platform designed to bring this conversation upfront, so sourcing ceases to be a mystery and instead the fun it's intended to be.

the team

Vinit Patil: Co-Founder, CEO

Engineer Maker Dreamer

Vinit worked on marketing the world's best brands. Nike, Target, Audi and most recently at startup Box Inc. He believes their secrets of feedback, data and strategy can apply to Indie brands. And drive up fortunes of indie designers.

Vinit is an indie designer as well at junk rescue collective The Whiteout. His collections rotate at boutique galleries and stores in San Francisco and LA. While selling wholesale, he noticed a pattern in the relationship between indie stores and designers. Dysfunctional.

Time to communicate.

Spencer Sass: Co-Founder,Design Chief

Designer Traveler Artist

Spencer's art, inspired by travels to South East Asia, has decked the galleries in the Bay Area. He's also worked as an art director on creating interactive experiences for NIKE, Xbox, Gap. And most recently with Vinit on rebranding Box.

Spencer set up an art collective in Seattle. In that process, he saw the struggles of artists on their path to getting their work noticed. He believes that a platform that reduces this friction would do the world a lot of good. Can't argue that.

Weidong Yang: CTO

Coder Dancer Sword smith

Wei is a computer scientist with 11 patents. (Yeah, suck it trolls). His discoveries span data analysis and software architecture. While gaining a deep mastery of code, Wei trained his artistic side. He learned new dance forms that used technology to inspire new dance movements.

Wei founded the Kinetech arts collective. Birthing a new genre of dance that combined data and molecular biology. Within a year, Kinetech won the honor of Best Sci Art dance collective by SF Weekly.

Katie Gaertner: Advisor,Retail Strategy

Storeowner BUYER AMBASSADOR

Before opening her own home decor and gifts store 'Whistle' in the Inner Sunset, Katie picked up years of experience working behind the scenes for retail giants and Bay Area's beloved indie shop The Gardener. She now applies those insights on a much smaller, more personal scale.

The maker movement is lucky to have Katie on its side. Her expertise in buying and indie retail is a secret weapon for competing against mass market ubiquity.

Kelsey Baker: Buyer Relations Manager

Organizer - Sustainability Nerd - Outdoor Enthusiast

Kelsey is an organizer and planner, and has applied her skills at both nonprofits and in retail and wholesale. She especially loves supporting and promoting brands with an emphasis on sustainability, fair trade and zero waste.‍As an activist, Kelsey loves to take action in her local community. Also, she is very proud of her homemade toothpaste, and gets very excited to go bulk grocery shopping.

Sean Li: Full Stack Developer

HACKER programmer MUSICIAN

Sean is coder of all languages and master of all. Well, React and Nodejs are the top of the list. He is also trained under the storied guidance of Wei.

Sean works from his home city of Shanghai with the occasional trips to San Francisco. Although it feels very much like he's next to us, sharing Nai Lam Pau from across the table.

Thanks internets.

Vinit Patil

Co-Founder, CEO

Vinit worked with retail brands Nike, Xbox Target and recently startup Box. He believes their secrets of feedback, data, and retail strategy can be applied to drive up the fortunes of makers. While selling his own products to stores, he realized the relationship between indie designers and retailers is, what's the word, dysfunctional. It's time to fix this.

Vinit Patil

Co-Founder, CEO

Vinit is artist partner at junk rescue collective The Whiteout. His collections rotate at boutique galleries and stores in San Francisco and LA. It's during these interactions where he realized the relationship between indie designers and retailers is frankly, what's the word, dysfunctional. It's time to communicate.

Spencer Sass

Co-Founder, Design Chief

Spencer's art, inspired by travels to South East Asia, has been featured at galleries in the Bay Area. He's also worked as an art director on creating interactive experiences for NIKE, Xbox, Gap. While setting up an art collective in Seattle, he saw the struggles of artists on their path to getting their work noticed.

Spencer Sass

Co-Founder, design chief

Spencer's art, inspired by travels to South East Asia, has been featured at galleries in the Bay Area. He's also worked as an art director on creating interactive experiences for NIKE, Xbox, Gap. While setting up an art collective in Seattle, he saw the struggles of artists on their path to getting their work noticed.

Weidong Yang

CTO

Wei is a computer scientist with 11 patents (suck it trolls). His discoveries span data analysis and software architecture. While gaining a deep mastery of code, he trained his artistic side, learning new dance forms that use technology to dynamically inspire new dance movements.

Weidong Yang

CTO

Wei is a computer scientist with 11 patents. Yes, suck it trolls. His discoveries span data analysis and software architecture. While gaining a deep mastery of code, he trained his artistic side, learning new dance forms that use technology to dynamically inspire new dance movements.

Katie Gaertner

advisor, retail strategy

Before she opened her own home decor and gifts store 'Whistle' in Inner Richmond, Katie worked for 12 years as a buyer at the Gardener learning from the best in the business. The maker movement is lucky to have Katie on its side, her expertise in buying and indie retail is a secret weapon for competing against mass market sameness.

Katie Gaertner

ADVISOR, RETAIL STRATEGY

Wei is a computer scientist with 11 patents. Yes, suck it trolls. His discoveries span data analysis and software architecture. While gaining a deep mastery of code, he trained his artistic side, learning new dance forms that use technology to dynamically inspire new dance movements.

Sean Li

product / software engineer

Sean is coder of all languages and master of all. Well, React and Nodejs are the top of the list. He is also trained under the storied guidance of Wei and although works from his home city of Shanghai, feels very much like he's next to us, sharing Wai Lam Pau from across the table.

Sean Li

PRODUCT / SOFTWARE ENGINEER

Wei is a computer scientist with 11 patents. Yes, suck it trolls. His discoveries span data analysis and software architecture. While gaining a deep mastery of code, he trained his artistic side, learning new dance forms that use technology to dynamically inspire new dance movements.

INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR TEAM?

The maker movement is no longer part of some fringe economy. Great talent on our side counts as a win in our uphill battle against commoditization and mass market retail. To join this fight, get in touch with us at info@skue.co

fullfilling our mission

Through our wholesale platform, we aim to create meaningful ways for designers to not only sell but experiment, design and tweak products that create joyful experiences. Here are few things we're doing and some we have planned: